I'm about to join this great BlackBerry fraternity, but I have some questions before I sign on the line that is dotted:

1. Are there any email accounts that are not compatible? I am planning on getting a 7130c. My personal email is @aol.com. Does AOL work with that phone/service? How do gmail, Yahoo, and hotmail work with BB?

2. If I plan on checking two email accounts -- personal account (see above) and corporate account -- what service should I get. I don't know the difference between Blackberry Connect, Blackberry Corporate, Blackberry Personal, Data Connect, SmartPhone Connect, etc.

Basically I'm a new graduate who just got a corporate GM job and corporate email, so it's time to move up to the big boy smartphones. I don't need a camera phone, so I feel the 7130 is perfect for me. I need to use it as a phone, plus be able to check emails, text message, use the calender and take notes. Am I looking at the right type of BlackBerry?

gqiqjoe, will this be your personal BB, or issued to you by GM on their BES? If you are buying the device and it will not be on GM's BES, then you will be buying BIS service, the blackberry data service. I can't advise on the different plans.

I use BIS through Tmo, and Yahoo email works great. Search the board for info relative to your situation. I recall reading of issues with Yahoo push email on other carriers, but I don't know if this is still the case or not.

If you are issued a corporate BB, be aware you most likely will be restricted on what you are permitted to install and access.

I recommend you spend some time browsing this site and searching on topics related to what you want to be able to do with the BB. Look through the FAQ (see link at top of page). And if it is a potential deal breaker for you, talk to your IT people about what you want to do before you buy, if you haven't already done so.

Pushed email means the email is delivered to the BB immediately and without the user actually having to log on to the server and download. When you sign up for a personal BB data plan, you will get BIS, and your carrier will provide you with an email account. You will also be able to add POP3 email accounts. Email sent to the email account with your carrier will be pushed to the BB. Yahoo (and Googel, I believe) email is pushed to the BB, depending on the version of BIS used by the particular carrier, as I understand it. Other accounts are polled at some interval---something like every 15 minutes. However, you may not be able to access your corporate email account without the assistance of your IT people, and they may not allow you to do it.

Basically, there are 2 ways to get E-Mail on a blackberry, with a BES, which is something that a company (few, if any, individuals use them, they cost A LOT) uses for thier BB "force", and BIS, which is for "personal" use.

Since you mention you are not getting the BB from your corporation, I assume you are not gonna be on thier BES, THOUGH, they may, in fact let you be on thier BES if they have one. You would need to speak to your IT department about that. That will enable you to get your work e-mail, since that is what a BES is used for. Note, however, that when on a BES, THEY HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OF YOUR BB. They can limit anything and everything, from the web browser, to using personal e-mails, to requiring passwords, all kind of things, probably many more things that I and you can't think of.

A BIS would interact with your personal e-mail accounts. This is done by setting things up on your cell carriers BIS website. You choose the e-mail address, and enter the password, and the BIS takes care of it. Some E-mail services work better then others, and whether they work well is based on the e-mail service AND your cell carrier. e.g. Yahoo can work perfectly with T-Mobile, but not at all with Cingular, and GMail could work with Cingular but not with T-Mobile. You will have to research. I know for a fact that AOL doesn;t integrate very well with either. The main thing about BIS is that it only works with POP3 and WEB BASED e-mail accounts.

Then there is PUSH and PULL e-mail. Push means that the e-mail is PUSHED to your BB as soon as it reaches the e-mail mailbox. That means that you get it instantly on your BB. PULL means that the BIS checks every 15 minutes or so, to see if you have any e-mail, and if it does, then it sends it to your BB. That means that it could take up to 15 minutes to get your e-mail. That is the difference between Push and Pull.

If you have no access to a BES, there is little chance you can access your work e-mail. Since your office e-mail is almost certainly NOT WEB BASED or POP3.

This is just the begining, you really have to do some research and read, and learn this stuff as best you can.

I'm 99% sure BES is not what my company does. BIS sounds more like what my other co-workers have going on.

Quick question: Is it possible to have my personal email pushed and work email pulled? Or can I have both pushed together? Or can you only have one account pushed?

Thanks for all your help guys!

One newbie to another I just set up my work and personal email throught the BIS and it gets to me almost instantly. I don't beleive that there is a limit to the number of accounts. BIS is simple to set up.